Some nice work from Greg Jericho:
2018 saw a surge in people working in secondary jobs that has led to the first time there being more than one million people working multiple jobs. The surge was most pronounced in the last half of 2018 where 30% of the new jobs created were going to those already working in another job.
…The labour account, unlike the monthly labour force figures, measures jobs not just “employed”. As such it is able to provide greater detail on what has led to the strong employment growth of the past two years.
It is a damning statistic for the government, which has prided its economic ability on the fact that employment has risen. Since December 2017, when secondary jobs accounted for just over 6% of all jobs, they have accounted for a quarter of the increase in jobs.
It has led to the position where now more than 7% of workers have at least two jobs:
…Just two years ago the average job saw a person working for 29 and half hours a week; now that figure is down to 28.9 hours:
The growth of secondary jobs highlights the impact of stagnant household incomes and the shift towards part-time work. It has resulted in the labour market shifting to one that is less able to allow people to survive on one income than ever before.
More likely it is supply side changes forcing multiple jobs upon workers. The key drivers are:
- the rise of “bullshit” services jobs post mining boom;
- the gig economy;
- the industrial relations impact of the cheap foreign labour tsunami and labour hire;
- a Coalition Government intent on reinforcing these changes.
What concerns me is that if it is supply side driven then, as the above underpinnings are wound back by Labor, the impact upon the jobs market might be large because many of the businesses that drive the demand for secondary workers will be rendered unprofitable.
In short, we’ve been living in a fool’s paradise.
